Is it another dreary day of rain? Or is it a fabulous way to have fun? What's your outlook on life?

If you could measurably improve your life with a change of outlook, would you do it?

For some people, attitude is indeed the key to everything positive in life.  Some might contend that we are fighters by nature, struggling to survive and thrive at every turn.  Though Emory’s Associate Professor of Sociology Corey Keyes understands how to fight to survive, if you were to meet this affable, well-balanced and very wise man, you might not jump to that immediate conclusion.  Keyes’s global research specialty is how happiness can be elevated into a higher state of flourishing. 

Keyes’s own story is deeply moving. Abandoned by his biological mother when he was just an infant, he survived in spite of the pneumonia that threatened his life.  His transition to childhood was rocky. Nonetheless, he demonstrated fortitude and will to survive an abusive relationship with a step-parent.  As he revealed, “Things got radically better when my paternal grandmother and grandfather adopted me and my sister at the age, for me, of 12.  They raised us from then on and I’m the first generation from my family to go to college let alone become a professor (get a PhD), so it is a story of resilience.”  Read more about his journey toward becoming the positive man people call “Dr. Pos.”

Keyes’s experiences shaped his life, but his focus now is on empowering individuals to take charge of their own direction. To learn more, join the Emory Alumni Association on Wednesday, February 22 for Faculty Within Your Reach as Keyes takes part in “To Happiness and Beyond: Are You Flourishing in Life?”  Register today.